Form of the Loudness Function in the Presence of Masking Noise

Abstract

It was established that the loudness of a 1000-cps pure tone in the presence of random noise is given by ψ = k(In − I0n), where I is the pure tone intensity and I0 the threshold intensity of the pure tone in the presence of masking noise. The exponent n is approximately 0.27, and the value of k depends on the choice of units. This relation also holds when the only masking noise present is the physiological noise generated in the ears, and it thus describes the conventional loudness function.